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Publications

Publications from USGS science centers throughout the Southeast Region.

Filter Total Items: 9969

Distribution of effluent injected into the Boulder Zone of the Floridan aquifer system at the North District Wastewater Treatment Plant, southeastern Florida, 1997–2011

Nonhazardous, secondarily treated, domestic wastewater (effluent) has been injected about 1 kilometer below land surface into the Boulder Zone of the Floridan aquifer system at the North District Wastewater Treatment Plant in southeastern Florida. The Boulder Zone contains saline, nonpotable water. Effluent transport out of the injection zone is a risk of underground effluent injection. At the Nor
Authors
Jeffrey N. King, Jeremy D. Decker

Salinity tolerance of non-native suckermouth armoured catfish (Loricariidae: Pterygoplichthys sp.) from Kerala, India

Loricariid catfishes of the genus Pterygoplichthys are native to South America and have been introduced in many localities around the world. They are freshwater fishes, but may also use low-salinity habitats such as estuaries for feeding or dispersal. Here we report results of a field survey and salinity-tolerance experiments for a population of Pterygoplichthys sp. collected in Kerala, India. In
Authors
A. Biju Kumar, Pamela J. Schofield, Smrithy Raj, Sima Satheesh

Comparison of HSPF and PRMS model simulated flows using different temporal and spatial scales in the Black Hills, South Dakota

The hydrological simulation program Fortran (HSPF) [Hydrological Simulation Program Fortran version 12.2 (Computer software). USEPA, Washington, DC] and the precipitation runoff modeling system (PRMS) [Precipitation Runoff Modeling System version 4.0 (Computer software). USGS, Reston, VA] models are semidistributed, deterministic hydrological tools for simulating the impacts of precipitation, land
Authors
D. R. Chalise, Adel E. Haj, T.A. Fontaine

Year-round presence of neonicotinoid insecticides in tributaries to the Great Lakes, USA

To better characterize the transport of neonicotinoid insecticides to the world's largest freshwater ecosystem, monthly samples (October 2015–September 2016) were collected from 10 major tributaries to the Great Lakes, USA. For the monthly tributary samples, neonicotinoids were detected in every month sampled and five of the six target neonicotinoids were detected. At least one neonicotinoid was d
Authors
Michelle L. Hladik, Steven R. Corsi, Dana W. Kolpin, Austin K. Baldwin, Brett R. Blackwell, Jenna E. Cavallin

Mapping elemental contamination on Palmyra Atoll National Wildlife Refuge

Palmyra Atoll, once a WWII U.S. Navy air station, is now a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge with nearly 50 km2 of coral reef and 275 ha of emergent lands with forests of Pisonia grandistrees and colonies of several bird species. Due to the known elemental and organic contamination from chemicals associated with aviation, power generation and transmission, waste management, and other air station activ
Authors
Matthew A. Struckhoff, Carl E. Orazio, Donald E. Tillitt, David K. Shaver, Diana M. Papoulias

Time series sightability modeling of animal populations

Logistic regression models—or “sightability models”—fit to detection/non-detection data from marked individuals are often used to adjust for visibility bias in later detection-only surveys, with population abundance estimated using a modified Horvitz-Thompson (mHT) estimator. More recently, a model-based alternative for analyzing combined detection/non-detection and detection-only data was develop
Authors
Althea A. ArchMiller, Robert Dorazio, Katherine St. Clair, John R. Fieberg

Making ecological models adequate

Critical evaluation of the adequacy of ecological models is urgently needed to enhance their utility in developing theory and enabling environmental managers and policymakers to make informed decisions. Poorly supported management can have detrimental, costly or irreversible impacts on the environment and society. Here, we examine common issues in ecological modelling and suggest criteria for impr
Authors
Wayne M. Getz, Charles R. Marshall, Colin J. Carlson, Luca Giuggioli, Sadie J. Ryan, Stephanie S. Romañach, Carl Boettiger, Samuel D. Chamberlain, Laurel Larsen, Paolo D'Odorico, David O'Sullivan

The impact of lidar elevation uncertainty on mapping intertidal habitats on barrier islands

While airborne lidar data have revolutionized the spatial resolution that elevations can be realized, data limitations are often magnified in coastal settings. Researchers have found that airborne lidar can have a vertical error as high as 60 cm in densely vegetated intertidal areas. The uncertainty of digital elevation models is often left unaddressed; however, in low-relief environments, such as
Authors
Nicholas M. Enwright, Lei Wang, Sinéad M. Borchert, Richard H. Day, Laura C. Feher, Michael J. Osland

Relations between total phosphorus and orthophosphorus concentrations and rainfall, surface-water discharge, and groundwater levels in Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation, Florida, 2014–16

The Seminole Tribe of Florida (the Tribe) is partnering with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop a numeric phosphorus criterion for the 52,000-acre Big Cypress Seminole Indian Reservation (BCSIR), which is located downgradient of the Everglades Agricultural Area, and of other public and private lands, in southeastern Hendry County and northwestern Broward County in southern Florida
Authors
W. Scott McBride, Dorothy F. Sifuentes

Flood of August 24–25, 2016, Upper Iowa River and Turkey River, northeastern Iowa

Major flooding occurred August 24–25, 2016, in the Upper Iowa River Basin and Turkey River Basin in northeastern Iowa following severe thunderstorm activity over the region. About 8 inches of rain were recorded for the 24-hour period ending at 4 p.m., August 24, at Decorah, Iowa, and about 6 inches of rain were recorded for the 24-hour period ending at 7 a.m., August 24, at Cresco, Iowa, about 14
Authors
S. Mike Linhart, Padraic S. O'Shea

Development and validation of quantitative PCR assays to measure cytokine transcript levels in the Florida manatee (Trichechus manatus latirostris)

Cytokines have important roles in the mammalian response to viral and bacterial infections, trauma, and wound healing. Because of early cytokine production after physiologic stresses, the regulation of messenger RNA (mRNA) transcripts can be used to assess immunologic responses before changes in protein production. To detect and assess early immune changes in endangered Florida manatees (Trichechu
Authors
Jason A. Ferrante, Margaret Hunter, James F.X. Wellehan

Vibrio population dynamics in Mid-Atlantic surface waters during Saharan dust events

Vibrio is a cosmopolitan genus of marine bacteria, highly investigated in coastal and estuarine environments. Vibrio have also been isolated from pelagic waters, yet very little is known about the ecology of these oligotrophic species. In this study we examined the relative change in bacterial abundance and more specifically the dynamics of Vibrio in the tropical North Atlantic in response to the
Authors
Jason R. Westrich, Dale W. Griffin, Douglas L. Westphal, Erin K. Lipp